Bruno Miguel Nunes Baltazar (born 6 July 1977) is a Portuguese retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Rochester New York FC Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

Playing career

Born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Baltazar started his career with local

S.U. Sintrense Sport União Sintrense is a Portuguese football club based in Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835 ...

after having already played youth football there. He then switched to Odivelas FC, representing both clubs in the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and fourth divisions and having his first adventure abroad with

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in 1900. Th ...

in Germany's

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

. Baltazar started the 2003–04 season still abroad, playing in the English

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

with

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. He returned to his country in the following

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, joining C.D. Fátima in the third level, then spent a further campaign in that tier with former side Odivelas. Baltazar's only experience in the professionals came in 2005–06, as he appeared in only seven Segunda Liga matches for F.C. Barreirense and also suffered relegation. He subsequently returned to the lower leagues, representing Imortal DC,

Abrantes F.C. Abrantes Futebol Clube () is a Portugal, Portuguese football (soccer), football club from Abrantes. The team plays in the Portuguese Second Division, Second Division – Serie D. The club was created on 14 December 1998 and was later dissol ...

– he split the 2006–07 campaign between the two teams – and Real SC. After another season abroad, with

Digenis Akritas Morphou Digenis Akritas Morphou ( el, Διγενής Ακρίτας Μόρφου) is a Cypriot sports club from Morphou, founded on 23 April 1931.

in the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Β΄ Κατηγορίας) is the second highest football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administrated by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with th ...

, Baltazar returned to Portugal and joined G.D. Igreja Nova in the third division (team relegation and folding). In January 2010 he rejoined Sintrense in the fourth tier, retiring in June of the following year at the age of 34.

Coaching career

After announcing his retirement, Baltazar took up coaching, starting as assistant manager at his first club Sintrense. In the summer of 2012 he was promoted to head coach, guiding them to promotion to the third division. In July 2013, Baltazar was appointed at second level side

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

. His stay was however to be short-lived, as he was relieved of his duties after only one month. Baltazar joined the Philippines national team coaching staff in April 2014, going on to work under

Thomas Dooley Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is an American former soccer player and coach. He played as a defender and defensive midfielder and was a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team. Dooley recently served as the ...

. He returned to his country shortly after, signing with lowly

Casa Pia A.C. Casa Pia Atlético Clube is a Portuguese multi-sports founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, best-known for its football team, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after Casa Pia, a Portuguese children's charity, and many ...

as their manager. In March 2017, after only three months in charge of

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

in the second tier, Baltazar moved to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

with

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintain ...

. Roughly one year later, in the same capacity, he signed with fellow league club

APOEL FC APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. Baltazar returned to his country and its second division on 22 January 2019, being appointed at

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

. In June, however, he left to become part of the coaching setup at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

following the appointment of

Sabri Lamouchi Sabri Lamouchi (born 9 November 1971) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He was the manager of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail. Early life Lamouchi was born in Lyon, France, and is of Tun ...

. On 7 October 2020, Baltazar became the new coach of

Al-Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many ...

of the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

. Five days later, he announced he could not sign as he was not able to break his contractual relationship with Forest. Baltazar was appointed head coach of

on 14 December 2021, ahead of the inaugural

season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltazar, Bruno 1977 births Living people Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football defenders Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.U. Sintrense players Odivelas F.C. players C.D. Fátima players F.C. Barreirense players Imortal D.C. players Real S.C. players Dresdner SC players National League (English football) players Margate F.C. players Cypriot Second Division players Digenis Akritas Morphou FC players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers S.U. Sintrense managers Atlético Clube de Portugal managers S.C. Olhanense managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers Cypriot First Division managers AEL Limassol managers APOEL FC managers Rochester New York FC coaches Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff